The Effect of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 on Arrests for Juvenile Prostitution: An Analysis of UCR Data

• In Event: Advances in Sex Offense Policy Research: Sex Crime Patterns

Abstract

The reframing of juvenile prostitution as “commercial sexual exploitation of children” was first articulated in the 1996 Declaration and Agenda for the First World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, which argued that involving children in the sex trade industry should be viewed as a form of sexual violence against the child. Four years later, the U.S. Congress enacted the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), the nation’s first comprehensive piece of federal legislation aimed at addressing domestic human trafficking, and more specifically, the commercial sexual exploitation of children. In part, TVPA called for the decriminalization of prostitution for persons under the age of 18. The extent to which states have responded similarly has not been evaluated adequately. This study uses data from the Uniform Crime Reports to examine whether arrests for juvenile prostitution decreased after the passage of TVPA. Findings and implications for policy and research will be discussed.

Authors

• Ryan T. Shields, Johns Hopkins University

• Geoffrey Kahn, Johns Hopkins University

• Elizabeth J. Letourneau, Johns Hopkins University